Under a Silver Moon
by UA
Summary: It's the first Halloween Sheridan's experienced in Harmony.  Includes most of the early Passions cast.  Rating subject to change.
1. Chapter 1

**~1~**

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><p><strong>Title: <strong>_Under __a __Silver __Moon  
><em>**Rating: **G  
><strong>Warning: <strong>no real warnings; seriously, this is about as filling as cotton candy, lol. Actually, here's one: this wasn't originally meant to be a chaptered fic, rather, a short story, one that's never really gained the legs needed for me to complete it. I'm posting it here and breaking it into chapters in the hope of finding the inspiration to finish it. : ) Now that we have that out of the way…  
><strong>PairingCharacters:**Sheridan, mentions of Luis, Julian, the Lopez-Fitzgerald family, original characters  
><strong>Word<strong>**Count:**860  
><strong>Summary<strong>**(for****chapter): **_It__'__s __the __first __Halloween __Sheridan__'__s __experienced __in __Harmony__. _

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><p>Jack-o-lanterns wink wickedly from storefront windows as trick-or-treaters scurry excitedly from door to door, all gleeful giggles.<p>

It's the first Halloween Sheridan's experienced in Harmony. She's surprised at the realization she doesn't want it to be the last.

Suddenly, a little girl stumbles in front of her, a little fairy princess, and she stoops to help her, straightening her crooked wings, before the tears filling her pretty blue eyes can fall. "My, aren't you pretty," she smiles, and the trembling little chin ceases its wobbling, rewarding her a second later with a gap-toothed smile that makes her heart ache in a delicious way.

"So are you," the little girl returns, a curly blond lock slipping into her eyes.

"Thank you," Sheridan says, and her fingers itch to tuck the blond curl behind the small, perfect ear, but the little girl beats her to the punch, combing the curl away with exasperated fingers.

"Oh, Kenna," a woman, obviously the child's mother, hurries over, kneeling at the little girl's side and inspecting her for any bumps and bruises. Finding none, she turns thankful eyes on Sheridan. "Thank you. I swear. This one's always in such a hurry, afraid her brother is going to get all the good candy."

"Let me guess," Sheridan surmises with a smile as she turns her attention back to the little girl. "Big brother?"

"Big, _mean_ brother," the little girl nods with a frown. "He always steals the good stuff."

"Don't they all," Sheridan agrees, speaking not from experience, but the too clear picture of Julian she can see in her head. Stealing the good candy is something she can easily see him doing, even if she cannot picture him ever dressing up for Halloween and going trick-or-treating. Picturing Julian as a child is hard enough.

"Thank the nice lady," the woman jumps in. To Sheridan she says, somewhat apologetically, "We have to go. Catch the big, mean brother. It was nice meeting you, Ms…."

"Crane," Sheridan supplies, offering her hand. "Sheridan Crane. Nice meeting you too, Kenna. Hey, do you like hayrides? That's where I'm headed right now. You're all welcome. Big, mean brother included," she grins.

"Can we, Mom? Can we, can we?" Kenna bounces excitedly on the balls of her feet.

"May we, Kenna," comes the automatic correction, and the woman looks unsure, until Sheridan continues.

"There's a haunted trail, toasted marshmallows, and I'm sure Luis has enough candy for a thousand kids."

"Luis? Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald?" the woman's eyes light up. "We went to high school together. Even went out a few times. I'm Kate, by the way. How's Luis doing these days? Has he ever mentioned me? How do you two know each other?"

Sheridan blinks and opens and shuts her mouth a couple of times, blindsided by an emotion she doesn't care to name as the woman gushes over Luis and their _history_ and finally she settles on the safest answer, because she doesn't want to air her own _history _with Luis in front of this woman and her child. "We, uh, we work together."

"On the police force?" the woman asks, urging her little daughter to run along and retrieve her MIA older brother.

"At the Youth Center," Sheridan corrects her, leaving out the how's and why's, and instead answers the woman's questions as best she can, because it seems the easiest thing to do, the best thing to do to distract herself from the gnawing feeling of…jealousy?…in the pit of her stomach as they walk toward the Youth Center, the kids racing ahead, the little fairy princess now joined by a fearsome Count Dracula.

"The Youth Center," the woman repeats in recognition. "Braden's always talking about that place, wanting to go. I didn't know Luis was the director. I bet the kids love him. He must be a fabulous boss."

Fabulous boss? Arrogant slave driver's more like it, but he _does _have a way with the kids. Sheridan can't deny that fact so she agrees with the woman. "He's great with the kids."

"I'm not surprised," Kate replies. "He was so good with his little brother and sisters when his father disappeared. I always felt bad for him, you know. Being forced to grow up like that had to have been hard. He just wasn't the same, after. He was different."

Before she can stop herself, Sheridan blurts, "Different how?"

Glancing at Sheridan as they pause in front of the Youth Center's steps, Kate frowns as she contemplates the question. "He forgot how to have fun." Without waiting for Sheridan to reply, she climbs the steps after her boisterous children, chiding them as they enter the bustling building, "Braden, Kenna, is it really necessary to stampede through the doors like a herd of elephants?"

Sheridan stands there, distractedly acknowledging a handful of teens as they jostle past her, and lets Kate's words sink in before she makes a decision, the challenge too much for her to resist. Smile firmly in place and mission clear, she holds her head high with confidence, because she has an important lesson to teach Supercop tonight, and she plans on having some fun herself doing it.

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><p><strong>So...verdict time. <strong>

**Your thoughts? **

**Is this fic worth continuing or is there a reason it's been languishing on my harddrive for literally years? **

**Your feedback is welcomed and much desired. **

**:)**

**Thanks so much for reading!**

**More to come, if you want it. **


	2. Chapter 2

**~2~**

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><p><strong>Title: <strong>_Under __a __Silver __Moon  
><em>**Rating: **G  
><strong>Warning: <strong>in this installment, you have the potentially cringe-worthy pairing of cheese and cotton candy, lol  
><strong>PairingCharacters: **Sheridan, Luis, Hank, Ethan/Gwen, Theresa  
><strong>Word<strong>**Count: **404  
><strong>Summary<strong>**(for ****chapter): **_Luis __is __wearing __his __police __uniform__…__Sheridan __guesses __it__'__s __the __closest __he __can __bring __himself __to __dressing __up__._

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><p>Luis is wearing his police uniform.<p>

Sheridan guesses it's the closest he can bring himself to dressing up. She's thankful the majority of the rest of their merry band took themselves a little less seriously. Hank's attempts to channel John Travolta's infamous Rydell High slacker are more than a little amusing, and she dissolves into peals of eye-rolling laughter when he sidles up to her, winks at her, and calls her _Sandy._

Slicking his hair back with both of his hands, Hank casts his roving eye over her snug jeans and the low-cut red top visible beneath her leather jacket, remarking, "Don't. Don't say it. Let me see if I can figure it out."

"Hank," Sheridan smiles indulgently.

"The babysitter?" Hank guesses. "The one from _Halloween_?"

"Try again," Sheridan suggests, leaving Hank to mull things over when she glimpses Gwen and Ethan in the growing crowd of ghastly masks and painted faces. Gwen's poodle skirt and uncharacteristic ponytail pique her curiosity, but it's Ethan's Prince Charming regalia that looks really out of place in juxtaposition. Accepting Ethan's ready hug, she teases, enjoying the blush that appears on his boyishly handsome cheeks, "Looks like someone forgot to read the memo."

"Actually," Gwen interjects, "there was a mix-up at the costume shop. This was all they had left on such short notice."

"A mix-up?" Sheridan's brows shoot to her hairline when she notices Theresa lurking in the shadows a couple of feet away, dressed to perfection as Cinderella, down to what looks like glass slippers. "Really? How interesting." Taking Gwen's arm, she leads her friend away and motions for Ethan to follow them. "I'm really glad you two decided to come."

"We figured you could use the friendly faces," Ethan replies easily. "Although I must say…it took some convincing on my part."

"I'm still not completely sold on the hay ride," Gwen admits under Sheridan's quizzical look.

"That's only because you haven't been on one," Ethan says.

"And you _have_?" Gwen poses skeptically.

"No, but," Ethan answers then frowns at Sheridan. "_Why_ are we doing this again?"

"It's Halloween," Sheridan shrugs her shoulders with a smile. "And the kids promise me it'll be fun."

"Fun," Ethan mutters the reminder to himself. "Right. It'll be fun. Where's everybody going?" he wonders, noticing for the first time, that the crowd inside of the Youth Center has started to dwindle somewhat. "Aunt Sheridan, where are _you_ going? Aunt Sheridan!"

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><p><strong>Feedback is much adored!<strong>

**I'd really love to read your thoughts on this one, find out if you think it's worthy of continuing. ;)**

**I've gotten a few more parts completed, and after that, unfortunately, I'm stalled-at a complete stalemate, as far as inspiration goes. **

**You know what makes for great inspiration? **

**LOL!**

**Just knowing someone out there is interested, and sometimes, all it takes is one someone, but someone all the same. **

**I'm easy, hehe. **

**Doesn't have to be much. **

**Okay, that's enough. ;) I apologize if I'm at all coming across as a beggar (argh, please no!). I just genuinely miss interacting with my fellow Passions lovers, and like I said, I'm more than a little stuck on this little fic. It's been gathering dust on my hard drive for more than a couple of years now. **

**So...**

**Thanks so much for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

****~3~****

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><p><strong>Title: <strong>_Under __a __Silver __Moon  
><em>**Rating: **G, although…we might be edging closer to PG territory  
><strong>Warning: <strong>Growing impure thoughts on the part of our heroine count? Nothing too risqué, I promise.  
><strong>PairingCharacters: **Sheridan, Luis, Hank, Ethan/Gwen, Theresa, Whitney, Sam, original characters  
><strong>Word<strong>**Count: **539  
><strong>Summary<strong>**(for ****chapter): **_The __hayride __is __fun, __as __fun __as __riding __along __in __a __hay-filled __buggy __crammed __full __of __bodies __can __be.  
><em>

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><p>The hayride <em>is<em> fun, as fun as riding along in a hay-filled buggy crammed full of bodies can be. And when the body next to you just happens to be that of your sternly sexy _boss_, everything's good, right?

_Wrong_, Sheridan thinks, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth as she watches Kate and Luis reacquaint themselves: Kate, who just happens to be newly divorced, and Luis, who's smiling and oozing charm that Sheridan wasn't aware that he had. That, combined with the heat he's emitting at her side, is doing crazy things to Sheridan's pulse, crazy things that she hasn't allowed happen since she found out how much of a slave-driver and Crane-hater the man could be. Her only saving grace is little Kenna, curled up next to her, like a kitten seeking warmth, her wings again crooked and her mouth wide open in awe. Sheridan grasps onto the child's wonder for the distraction she so desperately needs, and soon she realizes she doesn't have to try so hard.

The horses plod forward, along a road grown bumpy the minute they left the paved streets of Harmony behind. The landscape changes, and a silver moon rises high in the chilly night air.

It's beautiful and Sheridan finds herself enchanted. She's so enraptured she doesn't notice that Luis's attention has strayed from Kate and settled on her.

The buggy lurches to a stop, and before Luis can finish barking out his instructions, the kids are spilling out and racing toward a wooden sign nailed to the broad trunk of a tall, skeletal-looking tree. Under its wavering branches, she finds Ethan and Gwen again, and she notices they're not alone. Theresa is bouncing in her glass slippers, and Whitney hovers nearby, a reluctant Bride of Frankenstein. When Hank saunters over and spies Gwen, his brown eyes alight with the thrill of conquest, Sheridan bites her lip and grabs Hank's arm, steering him in the opposite direction.

"I like it when you manhandle me," Hank drawls with a wink and a grin.

Sheridan playfully slaps his arm and pulls him along. "Come on, Danny." Luis, she can't help noticing, lags behind, shepherding some of the younger kids into groups of three and four, Kate all but clinging to his side. Little Kenna bravely sprints away from her group, and before Sheridan has time to do more than blink, she has joined them, her sparkling wings drooping just slightly as she grins up at them.

"Can I go through the Haunted Trail with you, Ms. Sheridan?"

Hank answers for Sheridan. "Lead the way, Tinkerbell."

Sheridan looks back at Kate to ask permission to find the other woman mouthing _thank__you_ and eyeing Luis adoringly, and she forces herself to smile back, earning herself a curious frown from the object of the woman's overzealous affections. "Of course, you can," she consents, _this_smile much more genuine, "if you promise to hold my hand. I might get scared."

"You can always hold my hand," Hank offers gamely.

Sheridan groans and rolls her eyes, and when the Tin Man, a.k.a. Sam Bennett, steps aside to allow them entrance to the trail, he sports a knowing twinkle in his vivid blue eyes.

"Enter if you dare."

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><p><strong>So...anybody care to let me know what you're thinking about this story? <strong>

**;) **

**Is it worth further pursuing or do I need to just post what I have here and come back to it whenever inspiration strikes (which, unfortunately, doesn't happen as often as I'd like these days)? **

**Feedack is love!**

**Thanks so much for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

**~4~**

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><p><strong>Title: <strong>_Under __a __Silver __Moon  
><em>**Rating: **G  
><strong>Warning: <strong>none, really.  
><strong>PairingCharacters: **Sheridan, Hank, Reese, Luis, mentions of Charity and Timmy, original characters  
><strong>Word<strong>**Count: **426  
><strong>Summary<strong>** (for****chapter): **_The __Haunted __Trail __is __as __much __a __maze __as __it __is __anything __else, __with __curious __characters __lurking __around __every __corner.  
><em>

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><p>The Haunted Trail is as much a maze as it is anything else, with curious characters lurking around every corner.<p>

Kenna giggles and squeals at Sheridan's side when an enormous white rabbit streaks in front of them, bemoaning his tardiness, and lifting up one mammoth, fuzzy paw to push his glasses more firmly upon his nose.

Reese's fluffy white tail wiggles behind him as he disappears around the nearest corner, and Sheridan bites back a smile. Just behind her, Hank can't resist comment.

"Not so fast, Peter Cottontail."

One floppy bunny ear appears, then another one, and Sheridan swears Reese's painted on pink nose twitches in indignation at Hank's complete ignorance.

Pointedly pulling out an oversize pocket watch and tapping its face, Reese harrumphs, "I'm late." His brows arch high on his forehead, and he shakes his head when Hank doesn't seem to pick up on the clue, muttering, "Does this look like the Bunny Trail?"

"Give the Mad Hatter my regards," Hank calls after Reese as he disappears again, and to Sheridan he says, "A little defensive, don't you think? Guess I would be too if my girlfriend made me dress up like the Easter Bunny."

Kenna's little face screws up in confusion at the mention of the Easter Bunny. "But it's Halloween."

Sheridan's look of warning has Hank backtracking, and he's still trying to explain himself out of a self-made mess when they round another corner and literally collide with a mountain of a mummy nursing a bad leg.

"Mary, mother of God!" Hank shrinks back behind Sheridan, Kenna's little arms tangled around his legs, and a series of squeals erupts that Sheridan doubts all belong to their little fairy princess.

Luis is rounding the corner with Kate hanging on his arm like a cheap Christmas ornament by the time Sheridan has successfully peeled the frightened pair apart, and white tissue paper catches in the evening breeze as the mummy lurches forward and departs their company, a noticeable gleam in his dark eyes. Something like a smile lurks on Luis's lips when he spies them, but it disappears in a blink of Sheridan's eyes, and she shakes her head at Hank and his newly rediscovered tough guy act as he pulls her around the next corner and straight into Wonderland.

Charity makes the perfect Alice and the perfect balm to ease little Kenna's fears enough to enable them to continue on their way, _until_ they happen upon a scene straight out of _The __Wizard __of __Oz_—complete with Tabitha's doll Timmy in Munchkin mode.

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><p><strong>Anybody reading this? <strong>

**:)**

**Just asking. **

**In any case, feedback is love. **

**Next chapter is the last pre-written part; after that one, I'm pretty much stuck. Mind helping me out? **

**LOL! **

**Only partially kidding about that. **

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter (if you, in fact, read it). **

**Thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

**~5~**

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><p><strong>Title: <strong>_Under __a __Silver __Moon  
><em>**Rating: **PG  
><strong>Warning: <strong>tiny bit of language, what might count in some circles as innuendo. ; )  
><strong>PairingCharacters: **Sheridan, Hank, Luis, Gwen, mentions of Sam, Ethan, original characters  
><strong>Word<strong>**Count: **471  
><strong>Summary <strong>**(for ****chapter): **_"__So __the __kid __has __a __phobia __of __Munchkins,__" __Hank __consoles, __companionably __bumping __his __shoulder __against __her __own. __"__How __were __you __supposed __to __know?__" _

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><p>Kenna's screams bring Luis and Kate running, and the little girl's terror earns her a VIP pass straight to the crackling campfire and enough toasted marshmallows to make her big blue eyes grow round with wonder, her tears forgotten.<p>

Luis truly _is_ great with kids; that much Sheridan cannot deny, and watching him with Kenna and Kate, she feels some unnamed emotion seize her uncomfortably by the throat and refuse to let go. She can only nod in Hank's direction when he follows her back into the shadows and twists and turns of the maze, wearing a sympathetic expression.

"So the kid has a phobia of Munchkins," Hank consoles, companionably bumping his shoulder against her own. "How were you supposed to know?" Dodging a cluster of children costumed in everything from the ghastly to the genuinely head-scratching as they streak past them, the end of the maze within their sights, he confides, "Myself? It was always those damn flying monkeys. I slept with Sammy's flashlight under my pillow for months."

Sheridan smiles her thanks, her blue eyes sparkling at him in the darkness. Impulsively, she presses a kiss to his cheek, pulling back abruptly when a familiar voice interrupts the public display of affection to a man she is quickly coming to count on as a friend, and a good one at that. Not to say she finds _all_ of his various quirks endearing. She gives his side a sneaky pinch when he stares, mouth agape, at Gwen, her blond ponytail bobbing with worry as she presses them for Ethan's whereabouts.

"Somehow we got separated," Gwen explains. She chafes her hands up and down her arms, reminding them all of the creeping chill in the air. She gratefully snuggles into the heavy jacket Hank shrugs off and drapes across her shoulders.

Hank's gallant gesture earns him a smile, but it is not, unfortunately, enough to warm much more than his pride and goose bumps soon pebble his skin.

It _is_ enough for Sheridan to make a suggestion (_that __and __the __little __scene __of __domesticity __back __at __the __campfire __that __bothers __her __for __reasons __she __cannot __possibly __fathom_). "Luis is handing out marshmallows at the campfire. Maybe Hank can give you pointers on the fine art of toasting them while I go look for Ethan. He swears he's the resident expert." Her teasing doesn't faze Hank, if anything it only further inflates his already considerable ego, and Sheridan shakes her head with a laugh. The man really was likable in spite of himself. "Go," she gently prods. "Save me a spot by the fire."

Hank leads Gwen around a corner, chatting her up while Gwen tosses a slightly distressed look over her shoulder at Sheridan. "Marshmallows are a piece of cake. Have you ever roasted a weiner? It's all in the hands."

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><p><strong><em>So there you go. <em>**

**_Last part I had written before my inspiration just...disappeared. _**

**_Maybe someday I'll finish it. _**

**_I hope you enjoyed the little installments I was able to eke out though. _**

**_Remember, feedback is love! And some of the best inspiration a down on her luck fanfiction writer can ask for sometimes. ;)_**

**_Thanks so much for reading!_**


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